From Finish to Start
by SilverUmbra
Summary: We're rivals. You try to kill me, and I try to kill you. It's as simple as that.' Oh, how she wished that was the case. It was much much more than that. Feudshipping.


_Exams are finally done! Thank god... Well, to celebrate, I decided to try a feudshipping oneshot, just for fun! For those that don't know, feudshipping is SeviperxZangoose. It's kind of weird, since it's a hard shipping and so unlike what I usually do... but eh. I hope it isn't as terrible as I think it is... Weird idea, weird day. Or something... Well! I might make it the next challenge, since the Challenge doesn't have to be LegendaryxLegendary. I'm thinking about it. Maybe._

_FIC!_

* * *

-

"Waiting hurts more when the reason you wait is because of the one you wait for."

-

He knew that he was dead.

It was the feeling of weightlessness that gave away his state of being- for his physical body was somewhere in the now far away world that he had once lived for. Despite this, he found himself in a place very familiar to where he had once been, and if it hadn't been for his knowledge, he would have thought that he was simply resting in a field of flowers and soft grass.

As he clawed at his mind- attempting to figure out how exactly he could have dropped dead, there came a presence behind him, one with such a familiar feel that he couldn't help but ignorantly bask in the scent that came with it. The scent was comforting, smelling of the forest after a light rain- earthy and fresh and clean with the slight fragrance of mint.

It was comforting.

For all of the wrong reasons.

Her.

It was _her_.

The white and pale blue ferret whipped around, claws bared for attack as his blue eyes glared at the serpent that was a few feet behind him. The black, gold and purple creature had her eyes half closed- as if she had no worry in being with the rival that she had to despise. Her sleek form glimmered softly in the sun above them, and the flowers of the afterlife shifted in the breeze as he continued to stare at her.

Her. Her. Her. Her...

"I've been waiting for you, Cross."

He growled, holding his suspicion. Anger and distrust was the only way that he could react to seeing her again after, after that. Maybe it was a dream, maybe the thing he had done never happened. Maybe he could...

"Where am I?"

A thin, forked red tongue slipped past lethal fangs, mostly out of habit than actual need. Her carmine eyes were still in that tired, yet content set of emotion that Cross had always linked with her. "It's the stage before the true afterlife." As if sensing his inquisitive question about the silence and lack of others, the serpent continued. "Pretty much everyone moves on instantly. I've stayed here, waiting for you."

"Why?"

He asked, yet he already knew the answer.

"Don't make me waste my breath by explaining." She replied, looking bored. "Since you know the answer."

_Because she promised._

And she still kept it, even now.

He hissed like he was the snake, and not she.

"How can you keep it! How?! I _KILLED_ you, Abyss!"

Amusement flickered in her eyes at his outburst, as her trademark smile crept onto her black and gold face. Her tongue tasted the air again as her head turned to admire the field of flowers that danced in the wind.

"I suppose you did, didn't you?" She said with nonchalance.

He stared at her as silence fell.

"But, you know... It doesn't bother me." The snake continued, causing him to jump slightly at her voice. Her red eyes were on him again, the warmth of spring against his chilly winter eyes. "It should. I mean, you killed me in cold blood. No reason. I should be really hissed off, shouldn't I? I should want to curse you to hell, huh?" His ears flattened against his head as she spoke, dread filling him. She did spite him for it...

"... But..." her voice was low as her eyes went to the ground, and her bladed tail flicked gently. "... The truth is, Cross... I just don't care. It seems you start to just stop caring once you're dead. No real reason to care about anything, really." She gave a small sigh, eyes rolling. "I'm sure that's ironic, somehow."

He would have found that funny, if it hadn't been for the fact that she was there and he was dead. He just wanted to reach forward and touch her, just to feel if she was real and that nightmare called life had just been, well, a nightmare.

"I missed you..."

He found himself saying it before he could stop, before he could realized how stupid it sounded. She seemed to think so as well, as her expression clearly stated. The white furred Pokemon found himself struggling to explain and defend himself like she was about to attack him like all of those times before.

"Oh, Arceus... I sound like such a moron..." he muttered, "... I mean... I missed you... so much... but it's my fault that you're dead... I practically died that day..." His voice started to rise as he attempted to get his thoughts straight. "I killed you, and here you are keeping your promise when I couldn't even keep mine... I'm such a moron! It's all of my-"

"That's enough."

Her voice cut him off efficiently, as always.

"It's the past. Sure, you killed me, but that's fine. It's all over now..." She smiled with those huge fangs that could easily crush his skull, yet never would. "I've forgiven you, silly ferret. Now... forgive yourself. That will truly make me happy."

There came a pause.

"Really?" His voice was low, scared.

"Really." She confirmed. "After all, once you do, we can leave..." she took a deep breath. "... for a better place..."

It didn't take her skills with expressions to know that he was afraid again. It only took a lifetime of rivalry to. She already knew what she had to say.

"I'll wait, Cross." She said gently. "I've been waiting for two decades... I can wait until you can finally get over what happened."

"You won't leave me again?"

Arceus, he looked like that kit from that first spring again.

Abyss moved forward and let her snout brush against his chest, careful to not pierce him with her two long, red fangs.

"Never again."

-

"Some things... are only understandable... backwards."

-

It was spring again.

Warmth woke from capture in the hibernating, thawed earth. The ice that had clutched at the frozen stems and halted trees withdrew into the corners of the world, leaving the world blank and ready to be remade like the artist and his new brush and paint set.

Life bloomed in this new canvas- taking the form of many things. The splash of blue and pink and orange and purple pastel flowers that now clashed with the azure sky made the air fresh with the aroma of a new start in life.

Despite the beauty around her, the snake did not see it.

Perhaps in was the coldness in blue eyes that still retained the chill of winter, or the blood red claws that were only a moment away from her throat, wanting to taste her sweet serpent blood. She could not move, captivated by his stunning white fur with their pale blue, scar-like markings that displayed his strange, and rare coloring.

She knew what he was going to do before he did.

"Cross..."

Pleading.

Asking.

Hoping.

"No."

Then there was darkness.

-

"You're not just my rival, silly ferret. You're you... and that makes all the difference."

-

Before he could stop her, black coils were wrapped carefully around him in such a way that had him completely defenseless. Yet, unlike most battles, her grip was gentle, with no sign of crushing in her mind.

Her head moved so that she was looking at him from the side, and Abyss chuckled as Cross struggled weakly. He glared at her halfheartedly, knowing that he was at her mercy and that she could end his life with one movement. Yet, he knew that she wouldn't.

His blue eyes widened slightly as he felt her tongue- baby lashes, soft down, snowflakes- brush against his blue, jagged ear.

"I suppose a Zangoose by any name would taste just as sweet... eh, Cross?" She moved closer, causing his heart to beat faster. "I suppose I'll never find out, will I?"

He only blinked as she unwrapped from him, claw at his ear as he stared dumbly after her.

-

"Maybe the answer is right, but the question is wrong?"

-

"Why do we fight?"

He glared at her and passed without a word.

He did not answer... because he didn't know.

And yet she did.

But never would she tell.

-

"True happiness comes from unlikely sources."

-

"You never smile."

Cross looked up at the serpent, blue eyes bored and annoyed at her appearance.. Abyss blinked at him, red eyes slightly curious.

"There's never anything to smile about." he retorted. "Unlike you, I do not grin at every damn thing I see."

She paused thoughtfully.

"I've never heard you laugh."

He narrowed his gaze.

"Hell, you always seem to be brooding."

"As expected. The world is a terrible place."

Again, she paused.

"Yes. But doesn't that make the good things better?"

"What good thing-" he suddenly stopped as the sun moved past the clouds, shining on the clearing the two rivals were in. The light, against the sleek scales of the serpent, made her shimmer slightly. She blinked at his expression, one that was of slight awe.

"What?"

The ferret turned his head away quickly and hid a small smirk.

"Oh, nothing really."

-

"It's the things that seem simple at first that are the most complicated."

-

The Zangoose glared at her.

"We're rivals. You try to kill me, and I try to kill you. It's as simple as that."

The Seviper only smiled as if she had heard something amusing.

* * *

_Yes, weird. It all went backwards, from death to the first meeting of the two. I actually do have a Zangoose male named Cross and a Seviper female named Abyss, so I decided to use them. Yup, Cross is a shiny, since shiny Zangoose are pretty... well... SU out!  
_


End file.
